Overview
Key data
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Completed | 1782 (forty-seventh year of Qianlong, Qing) |
| Chief editors | Ji Yun and others |
| Position | The astronomy and mathematics class of the Masters division |
| Contents | Entries and descriptive notices for astronomical and calendrical works |
Its place in the four-part classification
The Siku Quanshu is divided into the four classes of classics, histories, masters and collections;
books of astronomy and the calendar fall under the masters, in the astronomy and mathematics class.
The Siku Quanshu is divided into the four classes of classics, histories, masters and collections, and books of astronomy and calendrical computation fall under the masters, in the astronomy and mathematics class. The descriptive notices the editors wrote for the works of this class examine each book’s origins and weigh its merits — an important reference for the study of ancient astronomical and calendrical writings.
The range of its entries
The astronomy and mathematics class has two subdivisions:
one for “computing the steps,” holding works of calendrical computation;
one for “books of calculation,” holding works of mathematics.
Between them they cover, from the Zhoubi Suanjing and the Nine Chapters to Qing calendrical and mathematical works,
most of the principal literature of ancient Chinese astronomy and calendrical computation.
The value of the notices
The descriptive notices the editors wrote for the works of this class
examine each book’s origins, test its authenticity and weigh its merits.
These notices are the first doorway to the study of ancient astronomical and calendrical writings,
and are especially useful in distinguishing spurious ascriptions and later compilations.
Compiled and arranged by Chujia Kuang.